Alex Dyer at Filbert Street in November 1993

Oxford United travel to Leicester City on Saturday still looking for their first goal under Matt Bloomfield, following successive 0-0 draws against Bristol City and QPR.

United’s record in Leicester is nothing to shout about, with just two wins in 14 attempts. However, this will be Oxford’s first visit to the King Power Stadium and their first game in Leicester since the most recent of those victories, when the U’s won 3-2 in November 1993, with goals from Nick Cusack, Anton Rogan, and substitute Alex Dyer.

The Yellows’ only other win at Filbert Street also came in November, five years earlier, when two goals from Gary Shelton plus another by Dean Saunders earned United a 3-2 win and passage into the fourth round of the League Cup.

The first meeting between the sides came while Oxford were still a Southern League side, when the teams met in the third round of the FA Cup in January 1961. First Division Leicester City won 3-1, with Tony Jones scoring Oxford’s consolation as the Foxes took their first step to that season’s final, where they were beaten at Wembley by double-winning Tottenham Hotspur.

The highest scoring game between the sides came on 2nd October 1985 in the top flight. Oxford were looking to do the double over Leicester, having earned their first Division One victory in their history with a 5-0 drubbing of the Foxes at the Manor. On this occasion, United could conjure up only four goals, with John Aldridge scoring two, and John Trewick and Andy Thomas also on the scoresheet. Unfortunately, Leicester replied with four of their own to result in a point apiece.

You can see Oxford’s full record against Leicester HERE.

On this Date

United have played ten times previously on 24th January, winning three. Seven of those games have been away from home, of which the U’s have won just two.

The first win on the road on this date was Headington United’s first 24th January fixture, in 1953. A Ben Duncan goal was enough to beat Llanelly Town 1-0.

Oxford were back in non-league when they next won away on this date. A visit to Crawley Town in 2009 was settled by an Adam Murray goal before a crowd of just 1,603.

United’s most recent 24th January game was three years ago, when a visit to Wycombe Wanderers in League One ended in a 2-0 reverse.

The Match

United visit the King Power still looking for their first win of 2026, having drawn two and lost two of their previous four league games. Leicester, by contrast, have won their last two home games, beating Derby County and West Brom both 2-1.

Last time out, City needed a last-minute Janik Vestergaard goal to snatch a point at Wrexham, having previously lost 2-1 at top dogs Coventry City.

For Oxford, having tightened up at the back with consecutive clean sheets, the concern remains putting the ball into the opponents’ net. In theory, this could be an ideal game to rectify this problem, as Leicester have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 21 Championship games, the worst record in the division. However, as all U’s fans will testify, if a club has a poor record that they need to end, they need only to play Oxford to solve all their ills.

A lot depends on how United’s front three perform, with Will Lankshear the focal point of the attack. It’s a lot for the 20-year-old loanee to take on, but with no one else in the squad looking like being able to replicate his goal scoring, the responsibility to lead the line remains with the Spurs lad. Mark Harris and Tom Bradshaw have just one goal between them this season, while Nik Prelec, who is the only other real option up top, is currently injured (and has scored only one goal himself anyway).

Out wide, Stan Mills is currently the preferred right-wing option, and he can certainly worry opposition defences. However, he has missed golden opportunities to score in both the last two games and there must be serious doubts about his confidence in front of goal. Przsemysłav Płacheta has been out since going off at Ipswich on New Year’s Day and this game might be just a bit too soon for his return.

On the left, new signing Myles Peart-Harris has started the last two games, with Siriki Dembélé coming off the bench. MPH seems an intelligent footballer, if not a natural winger, in stark contrast to Dembélé’s head-down-and-run style. This works in terms of getting the side up the pitch, but it seems that the left is definitely the side’s weak point when it comes to goal creation, especially with the news that Tyler Goodrham is out for the rest of the season, and with Filip Krastev not even making the bench on Tuesday there seems to be few alternatives.

Could new signing Jeon Jin-Woo make an unexpected appearance? It seems unlikely, given that he’s not played since the K-League finished at the start of December, but sometimes needs must. Maybe a cameo off the bench, just to give the fans a glimpse of his potential?

In midfield, Oxford rely on the twin pivots of Brian De Keersmaecker and, of course, Cameron Brannagan. Will Vaulks started as the deep-lying midfielder on Tuesday, following Yunus Konak’s debut in the previous game, while another new signing, Jamie McDonnell, came off the bench for his debut against QPR and did reasonably well. With James Donley getting injured on his debut at MK in the FA Cup, at least this is one area where the side does now have reasonable cover.

There are also decisions to be made at the back, where Michał Helik had to go off at half time on Tuesday. Sam Long stepped across from right-back to cover, with Brodie Spencer coming off the bench to take Long’s place. And it seemed to work. Long has always looked more comfortable in the centre of defence, where he doesn’t have to worry about pacy wingers nipping past him, while Spencer has enough pace and stamina to get up and down the pitch. If Helik is fit, will Bloomfield leave him out? And what’s happened to the club’s other right back, Hidde ter Avest, who is presumably still injured?

No such dilemma on the left of the back four, where Ciaron Brown and Jack Currie continue to put in Man-of-the-Match performances week after week. Even if Ben Davies wasn’t injured it’s unlikely that he would be able to start ahead of Brown.

As for Leicester, they could be without two important midfielders after Jordan James and Oliver Skipp both went off during their draw at Wrexham on Tuesday. Aaron Ramsey, who was sent off in the reverse fixture at the Kassam when the sides drew 2-2 in September, is also sidelined, while Harry Winks appears to be out of favour recently.

It promises to be an interesting game for the U’s, backed as ever by a good away following. Although there are still plenty of matches remaining, Oxford do need to start putting results together or risk getting stuck even further from safety.

Clearly there are lots of changes required to bring the squad up to a standard where it can compete in mid-table in the Championship, and with a large number of players out of contract in the summer, it promises to be a good opportunity to do the necessary business. However, that would feel a lot better if it could be done still at this level, rather than a division below looking to return.

United still have to play Blackburn, Norwich, West Brom, and Charlton at home, and Portsmouth and Sheffield United away, so there’s lots of very important points to play for. However, the side will want to approach those games with some momentum, so it’s in matches like Saturday’s at Leicester and the following weekend’s home tie with Birmingham that the U’s will need to start picking up points.

As ever, UTFO